The greatest wisdom is to see one's own ignorance
In a temple in ancient Athens, Greece, there was an oracle that said that the wisest man in the world was Socrates. Socrates, on the other hand, said, "The only thing I know is that I know nothing." "Socrates is the smartest man in the world because he is aware of his own ignorance. The greatest wisdom in the world is to be aware of one's own ignorance.
There is no shortage of arrogant people in this world, but there is a lack of people who are truly aware of their ignorance. The wiser the person, the more he can see his ignorance. A person who thinks he knows everything is often a person who really knows nothing.
Confucius, the great thinker of ancient mainland China, once said: "If you are a threesome, you will have my teacher." "Think about it, Confucius himself was a teacher, a wise man, but he did not think that he knew everything, but modestly thought that he still had a lot of things he did not know, and that there would definitely be his own teacher among the people he met. Not only that, Confucius also said that we should "not be ashamed to ask questions", realizing that our ignorance is the starting point of progress, and to really make progress, we must rely on not being ashamed to ask questions to fill our ignorance. Everyone knows that Confucius took in many apprentices in his lifetime, but he did not know that he also worshiped many teachers, and as long as he had problems that he did not understand, he immediately asked others for advice. Perhaps, it was the awareness of his own ignorance and the spirit of having a shameless question that made Confucius.
The same is true of Lincoln, the most accomplished president in American history. Lincoln's father was an illiterate carpenter and his mother was a mediocre housewife. Lincoln, on the other hand, had extraordinary writing, strong ability to handle affairs and management. What is even more surprising is that he has been in school for less than a year in his lifetime. So how did he acquire those knowledge and abilities? It turned out that Lincoln could see his ignorance from an early age, whether it was a farmer, a businessman, a lawyer or a village Confucian, he could learn a lot of knowledge and truth from him. "Everyone can be my teacher," he said. It was this attitude that allowed him to accumulate knowledge, to increase his abilities, and eventually to become the president of the United States.
Be humble. True humility is the true attitude of realizing one's own ignorance after a clear analysis of oneself, rather than making a show on the surface. Only truly humble people will get sincere advice from others and promote themselves to correct their deficiencies.
There is no end to learning, and no one is omniscient. Being aware of one's own ignorance is not a shameful thing, but rather a prerequisite for promoting oneself to make up for one's ignorance. No matter what your life pursuit is, what your ambitions are, before you achieve these, you must first do yourself well. In other words, only by doing yourself well can you achieve your life pursuits and ambitions.
The old saying goes: "Self-cultivation, family unity, governance of the country, peace in the world." "Putting self-cultivation in the forefront is because this is the premise and fundamental of the following items. Only by repairing one's body first can we achieve the goal of qi family, governing the country, and peaceful world. What is slimming? The first thing is to be aware of one's own shortcomings and then to constantly improve oneself; to be aware of one's ignorance, and then to constantly fill in the gaps. How to fix it? It is to constantly introspect yourself. Only by constantly reflecting on yourself can you realize your ignorance and inadequacy. Prudence and independence speak the same truth.
People often say that living to learn from old age is endless. Don't let arrogance get in the way of your progress. There is also a saying: "Great wisdom is like foolishness." Those who really have great wisdom never think of themselves, but show themselves as "ignorant" everywhere, can realize their ignorance, be humble to others, and not be ashamed to ask.
He is not wise that is not wise for himself
Lao Ziyun: "Those who know others are wise, and those who know themselves are wise." In Sun Tzu's Art of War, there is: "Know thyself and know the other, and never lose a hundred battles." "It is said that there is one truth: people must know how to see themselves clearly, and people are self-aware. Most of those who make a difference are self-aware. If you don't want to waste your life, start by seeing yourself clearly.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a period of political chaos and weak troops in Vietnam. As one of the "Five Hegemons", King Zhuang of Chu believed that this was a good opportunity to attack the Yue kingdom, so he had to send an army to attack the Yue kingdom. At this time, a man named Du Zi came to dissuade him. He asked the King of Chuzhuang, "What is the Great King's intention to attack the Yue Kingdom?" King Zhuang of Chu replied, "Because the Yue Kingdom is now in political chaos and its troops are weak!" After Du Zi listened, he said meaningfully: "A person's wisdom is like a person's eyes, who can see far away, but they can never see their own eyelashes." Since the king's army was defeated by the State of Qin, the State of Chu has lost a lot of land, which is a weak force; some people are rebelling in the country, but the officials cannot stop it, which is political chaos. At present, the situation of weak political chaos in the Chu state is comparable to that of the Yue state, and you still have to send troops to attack the Yue country, can't you see your own shortcomings? After hearing this, King Zhuang of Chu immediately canceled his plan to attack the Yue kingdom.
There are many people like King Chu Zhuang, who only see the shortcomings of others, but they cannot see their own shortcomings. This is very dangerous, and people who do not know themselves are likely to die in war and lose in life and work. Therefore, at all times, we must remember the ancient Chinese adage: people are self-aware.
There was a crow who saw that the eagle could always catch the sheep to eat, and it also had wings, a sharp beak and claws, so it thought that it could catch the sheep and eat it. However, when it pounced on the sheep, it not only did not catch the sheep, but was also stabbed to death by the horns.
It is not difficult to see that this crow has made an unknowing mistake, it has not clearly realized the difference between itself and the eagle, and it just assumes that the eagle can do it, and it can do it, and the result is to lose its life in vain.
In fact, no matter when and at what high position, people must be self-aware. It should be said that the more high you are in a high position, the more you must be self-aware, and do not be blinded by the compliments of others.